Welcome to Skyla Arts!

Skyla Arts by Elizabeth Chang is serving the Bay Area and strives to provide makeup and photography that satisfies the client 100%!

For initial consultation and appointments, please email liz@skyla-arts.com or call 323-346-7599 between the hours of 9:00am-5:00pm.

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Friday, March 25, 2011

One more of Brittany!


Models: Brittany Ward @ Look
Makeup & Hair: Elizabeth Chang (Skyla Arts)
      Makeup & Hair Assistant: Melissa Yue
Photography: Novi Angelomio

An encore! ;D a smiling Brittany / Lifestyle! 

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

B/W Emotive Fashion featuring Brittany @ Look



Models: Brittany Ward @ Look
Makeup & Hair: Elizabeth Chang (Skyla Arts)
      Makeup & Hair Assistant: Melissa Yue
Photography: Novi Angelomio

One word: HOT!  Novi & Brittany escaped the rain and storm that came to SF Bay Area last week! It's been raining all week...I had to reschedule a photo shoot that was scheduled for Today - so I don't feel so bad because it was actually raining! :D If it was sunny I'd be banging my head against the wall in frustration lol...You can't control the weather!  These photos really captivate the weather~ kind of gloomy mood~! Brittany shared that she is really into Cereal  - after the shoot...I was at Costco and I saw Chocolate Cheerios and I bought a whole box! nomnomnom! Since the weather is "sort of" warming up, I'm excited to stop eating oatmeal, and eat cereal for a change!

I did a soft smokey dropped-eye shadow on Brittany~ It was my pleasure to have Melissa assist me. She is very interested in shifting gears in her career~! Normally for 1 model I really don't have much assignments for my assistant, but it's good preparation to establish rapport for future larger gigs. I'm excited to have assistance for future gigs ;)  I'm happy with how the hair and makeup turned out! Love her beautiful brows!

You can view a larger version on my Commercial Portfolio ! And if you haven't been there yet, you should check it out! ;D Stay tuned for my next post: "Demystifying Airbrush"


Sunday, March 20, 2011

A Nose Job!?!? [Tips on enhancing your features with angles/lighting/contour - image heavy]

This post was inspired by my hubby's comment last night! Part of it was also the current events about the Korean actress suicide notes and pressure to perform plastic surgery....but anyways...let's move on back to Namie ^^.  I was watching a new Namie Amuro video (if you know me, then you know she is absolutely my favorite performer and of all time and a style icon!) and my hubby said that: "10 years later, she still looks exactly the same! How did she do that...suspicious!"  My favorite Namie going under the knife?! no way...I thought! My conclusion is, NO she did not go under the knife! But I made a couple of observations! 
  photographed by Karl Lagerfeld in Paris 2009 
I never actually thought about it, although in high school one of my friends told me that you gotta look at photos but cover up the rest of the face and concentrate on the suspicious areas. lol ~ I never really want to suspect MY dear Namie getting any work done! So I did a google search, and I found some images

And the caption said she did her eyes and her nose! lol to the eyes comment because the angle/make up is completely different...the same with the nose!  The photograph in the left is around 1995-1996, I think some media appearances for her movie "That's Cunning" ! 

And then I found this on someone's live journal entry!  The quality is not very great, but you can see that when the angle is the same, her nose looks the same.    One thing she definitely fixed was her teeth! Getting braces can really change your face shape/lips as well! (Not that I'd recommend getting braces if you don't need them!) So I did a little bit of image juxta-composition myself to compare! 
I fixed my teeth! :D
The image from the right is from album cover PastFuture 2010! It's actually tough to find a photo of Namie in this angle because it's not the most flattering for her; and well, she's been in the industry for over 2 decades...hundreds of magazine covers and 6-8 page spreads later, She knows how to work her angles!  Also in 1996, it was not a trend to wear false lashes and contact lenses to alter your eye shape and make your eyes larger.  Fuller brows also frames your face differently (in Namie's case, it slims the face as well) Photoshop can also enhance the features by defining them (dodging and burning), and sometimes over photo shopped images can make you look completely different! So we must pay attention before drawing conclusions (like she got a nose job lol)!


Above is another image I put together with the dates! As you can see in 1996, her eyes have always been HUGE...and that's partially because Namie is 1/4 Italian, from her mother's side.  So her nose looks much flatter if photographed at that angle!


From the side, her nose looks much higher/taller instead of broad/flat.  Angles of her jaw also similar, so no facial reconstruction either.  If you really ask me...I do notice some collagen loss on her cheeks and that's due to aging ^^|| You can't get 10+ years older and not loose any collagen! She has great genes and probably takes great care of her skin and health (No smoking, little drinking, sunscreen!) The rest...well that's photo shop! ;) In her youth her lips looked really full because of the shade of lipstick she chose (to compliment the tanned skin "Amuraa" look she made so popular in the 90s!) - and lighter shade of lipsticks also make your lips fuller.  Now she opts for more natural colors! Remember that UVA sun rays damage our DNA/Collagen on our skin, so remember to protect the collagen on your lips by using lip balm with SPF!  Then you won't need any lip fillers in the future! :) Oh these images are so classic~ *Nostalgia*



Small Tips on enhancing your features in Photographs:

1) Flat light will make your nose flatter.  Ask for harsher / higher contrast lighting
2) Contour & highlighting ! Using cooler toned powder or contour kit and a smaller fluffy brush, you can create the illusion of a higher nose by contouring the sides of the nose, and the face to bring out cheek bones, and your jaw line. If makeup enough is not enough, you can also continue to emphasize the shadows during post-processing/photoshop stage of the image production stage.

3) Find your angles! This will require you to practice in the mirror. If photographed up-front, Namie will look like she has a broader nose, but from below, it makes her nose thinner & taller! You can also tilt your face slightly to the side to get a quarter profile (tall nose!) No need to go under the knife!
4) Trial & error for the right brow shape to match and frame your face shape! This part takes patience, as the growing it out phase sometimes is not too pretty!  But a big mistake is overly thin brows.  It can make your face appear much wider than it is!  

 And lastly, find a great makeup, hair and photography team!! ^o^  Professionals use similar tricks you use at home (ie: false lashes to enhance the lights, or photographing under certain lighting to get the most flattering light!) to enhance your features and achieve the look & feel you are going for! Anyways~ I hope you enjoyed the post and the pretty photos! Hope everyone had a great weekend!


Friday, March 11, 2011

*NEW* Skyla-Arts.com

A new and improved Skyla-Arts.com is up and running! I'm really helpless at CSS, so I'm really proud of myself for at least getting the hover effect to work! This process took over 2 months to organize the 2 new websites, and there's still some fine-tuning work to be done on the Bridal website (which will be a modified version of my former website), but the *new* commercial/fashion portfolio, is available at http://portfolio.skyla-arts.com or the middle link! Last but not least, to the right is my skin care business. Now everything is under one umbrella, but still separated so that the website is targeted towards your needs or interest.  Still some work to do, but *PHEW* at least my menu is done! 

Bridal website: http://skylaarts-bridal.com
Fashion/Commercial Portfolio: http://portfolio.skyla-arts.com
Harmony Skin Solutions (Skin care, advanced treatments): http://harmonyskinsolutions.com
Check it out! :) Have a great weekend everyone!

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Website(s) is under renovation!

If you stopped by my website today, you might have noticed there's a temporary message on the top instead of the usual website! I am in the middle of a DNS switch and reconfiguring of my website! Major face lift...  In the mean time, please contact me at skyla.arts@gmail.com  if you have any questions or if you need to inquire for makeup/hair/photography services!  Thank you for your patience & understanding! 

Monday, March 7, 2011

Kris - Beauty


Models: Kris Jung @ Stars Model Management
Makeup, Hair & Manicure: Elizabeth Chang (Skyla Arts)
Photography: Rummy Makmur


I've been back from LA last week and finally returning to a full swing of things with photo shoots and bridal trials happening this past weekend.  I was just really occupied with enjoying the show that I took absolutely 0 images! I even brought my camera with me, but the whole time I was just focused on either working the yaby booth, grabbing items for my kit (including the airbrush kit! woohoo!) and attending the classes that I signed up for - as well as networking and receiving VALUABLE constructive critique from different artists! Now I am convinced I need to get an iPad lol...! Let's see how I do by the end of this year. ^o^ Other news, I've been busy working on my new website and trying to get it to function! And the last step will be to re-configure my current website and then...Voila! Rebranding done! yay!  

I am very happy to share these 4 images ~ There was one more but I found that these were the stronger ones that I like! Especially the black and white ones.  I want to thank Rummy again for letting me take the reigns on the creative direction in this one!  :) I wanted to do the darker kind of looks, and I had some magazine clippings/inspiration images that I saved ages ago.  ^o^ Kris (the gorgeous model) and I might get together and film a makeup tutorial! *maybe* But hope you enjoy the photos! :) And keep stopping by! Don't forget about me!! hehe